Keiran
Keiran's day had been nothing but a mess for the last few days.
First, he was told he had to take over his cousin's shop for an indefinite amount of time, because he was going through a bad break up with his girlfriend. Considering how they had been together for a long time and were about to tie the knot, he understood why his cousin needed time away from everything.
Still, he wished he had known about it a few weeks before and not in the midst of finishing a couple of assignments and managing a few shows for his band.
Speaking of which, his band decided he'd be better off without them, now that they were suddenly signed by a records label who had decided they'd get a professional manager for them.
He had seethed for days, wondering why his band mates, his friends since they started the band together didn't say a word to defend him, until it dawned on him that they were probably the ones who requested him to be removed.
Keiran Sanchez didn't understand it at all, he thought he was excellent at his job. After all, he had promoted and got them shows frequent enough that they managed to get signed.
Hell, he was the one who got them signed.
But this was how they repaid him?
After days tearing his hair out in frustration over this, he couldn't stand it anymore.
So, he got out and drove for 45 minutes to where his high school friend was. Ricky, whom out of everyone, he could talk about almost everything to. Richard Santiago was a loyal friend, a great listener and a hell of an adviser, and whenever he was in a slump, he could always count on him to help him out, or at least to put some sense in his head.
Because at the very moment, he doubt he had any.
With the events that happened days before still played in his mind, he walked into Ricky's workplace with a hasty stride and quickly ordered a drink. He was impatient to see Ricky and have a talk, to just get this out of his mind. Scanning around, he didn't see who he was looking for, and while he was deep in his thought, a loud noise startled him out his reverie.
"What?" he snapped. Can't they just leave him alone?
"It's five dollars." The cashier said, giving him a glare. He looked at her before glancing at his drink, then nodded. Still, he raised an eyebrow at her. What a rude person. There's no way I'd tip her for that.
He fished out the right amount and took his drink, settling on a vacant seat nearby and scanned the place mindlessly. Ricky should be here, he thought silently. He was always going on about how fun it was to work here, and try as he might, Keiran would beg to differ. He didn't understand what was so exceptional about the place which made Ricky feel attached to it. Sure, the place had a nice vibe but it seemed and felt empty. It didn't bode well with him much.
Still, out of respect to his close friend, he knew telling that to him would not only hurt him but also made him become an ungrateful and selfish idiot. He wasn't going to risk his friendship with Ricky over that.
He checked his watch every now and then, and just when he thought he'd need to come back later, a loud but surprising voice jolted him.
"Keiran?"
Looking up, he saw Ricky and a brief flash of relief settled across his features. Ricky then went on to talk to some of his co-workers and he watched as their expressions changed. The blonde girl who was surprised then burst out into a laughter while the red-headed girl only had a scowl on her face.
Her eyes then met his, and if it were possible, she was now glaring at him and raising her eyebrow at him...as if he was a mere dirt.
Wondering what the hell was up with her, he scoffed and met her dark glower with one of his. She ended up looking away but not before rolling her eyes at him. He smiled smugly, then looking at his watch, he sat back down and waited patiently – or atleast tried to – while Ricky finished his conversation with the staffs.
"Hey, man. You should have called!" Ricky said with a grin as he approached Keiran.
Keiran tried to smile but his mood hadn't improved since the events that took place. With one last sip, he said, albeit a little lamely, "Yeah, sorry. I didn't think of that."
Ricky sat down and raised an eyebrow at his sullen friend. "Alright, what happened?"
Impatient to just delve to the issue, Keiran took no time to recount the events that happened. Ricky whistled lowly. "That's rough, man."
"Tell me about it." He sighed and raked a hand to his hair.
"So let me get this straight, the night before their ultimate show, you found out they already got signed through a live radio show. You, their manager, were left in the dark." Ricky said slowly, as if to reconfirm those telling.
Keiran nodded briskly. "Turns out they've gotten themselves a shadow manager – a professional, as they called it."
"And it had been going on for a month before that."
"Yeah." A weary sigh.
There was a long pause as both took in those information and processed it again.
And then, "Those motherfuckin' bastards! The lowest, really. And to think that they went behind your back just to get signed." Ricky shook his head in disgust at the thought of Keiran having to go through that. He then winced at his friend. "Sorry man, I never thought they'd do this. You deserve better than this shit, really."
Keiran's jaw tightened but he tried to keep his cool. The biggest thing of the betrayal was the fact that, they had been friends since high school and he thought they were some of the best guys he'd ever met. He was the one who put together the band, the one who shared his dream with them. He had sacrificed a lot to even get them to where they were now and he still had no idea why they did that.
Was he not good enough as a manager? As a friend?
Ricky noticed the distressed look on his friend's face and he felt torn between beating up the people whom he thought were their friends and coming up with a better solution to ease Keiran's discomposure.
Ricky shook his head and sighed. "Did you talk to them abou – "
" – Ricky, Table 4 needs some cleaning right now!"
"Fuck!" Ricky grumbled a curse under his breath. He turned around and saw one of the co-workers he least liked and that made him narrow his eyes at the guy before hollering. "Alright!"
A smirk made its way to Keiran's face as he noticed how reluctant and annoyed his friend was to be called to duty.
Ricky noticed the change of Keiran's face and glared at him, before he shook his head again and let out a small laugh. At least he's not moping about it anymore.
"Shut the fuck up, Keiran." Ricky laughed.
Keiran grinned as he glanced briefly at his surroundings. "Still think it's fun working here?"
"It's not that bad, really."
"Sure, man."
"Fuck off. Tell you what," Ricky looked at his watch before glancing at the same co-worker was now glaring at him and holding a dirty cloth with an expectant look at him. Ricky turned around and pretended he didn't see the guy. "Let's just meet up at my place tonight. We'll figure this out."
ns 15.158.61.20da2
